1 Server FreeNAS (Plex/Transmission/CIFS), or Split

[Chris Dill]

I have an old FreeNAS box, it has been running RAIDZ1 for years and is awesome. I use it to do Plex, Transmission, and CIFS/NFS. It is a glorified desktop, though it is beefy.

I have just built a new server grade FreeNAS, using ECC and a Xeon- way way higher end than my first system. I had planned to do the same thing on the new box as I did on the old, but now I wonder:

Would I be better off to host Plex and CIFS on one box and then leave transmission on the old box? I hav a nice firewall, and I could setup some nice DMZ and segregation. I would be worried about the load of transferring from the old box to the new box on my LAN.

Is there any performance reason to split things like this?

If my Xeon E3 1220V3 3.1 Ghz is enough for both Plex and Transmission, is there any NIC card implications? I run Transmission over a VPN connection to Europe, but I might be doing away with it not sure. I sometimes have 3-4 people streaming from my Plex at once- would I be better off putting Transmission Seed/DL data on one box NIC and all Plex up/down on the new box?

If not, Ill just use the old box as backup for my backup.

 

[FritVetBE]

Hey Chris

I expect your CPU more then capable of serving 4 simultaneous plex streams, even together with Transmission running on the same box.

Though, I think your biggest concern would be your internet bandwith together with upload used by transmission. My experience teaches me that if upload is being done, my download would also be affected quite hard.
I think it is best to let them run each inside a separate jail, having it's own IP and then do some QoS (quality of service) to give your outgoing plex streams higher network priority then your transmission box.

 

[Fuganater]

I run all my plugins on my primary server and the second is for backup of the primary. It is much easier to manage this way.